Obama Invites Hero Pilot to Inauguration

Copilot reports Obama is a 'very, very nice guy'

(NEWSER) - He helped saved 155 people with the successful water landing of US Airways Flight 1549, but co-pilot Jeff Skiles says he was only doing his job. "I'm just an airline pilot, and that's what we do,” Skiles told the New York Post. "We weren't doing anything any other pilot wouldn't have done." More»

'Thank you' inadequate for speedy rescuers, says Sully

(NEWSER) - The moments after the engines of US Airways Flight 1549 died were the worst of his life, hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger tells Katie Couric in a 60 Minutes interview to air Monday. Disbelief was followed by a "sickening, pit-of-your-stomach, falling-through-the-floor feeling," as an eerie silence and a disturbing smell filled the plane, he recalled. More»

Restocked ethics tome to be dedicated to Sully

(NEWSER) - Hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger's local library has told him not to worry about a borrowed book stuck in the hold of US Airways Flight 1549 that crashed in the Hudson River, AP reports. After he contacted the library to ask for an extension, the staff not only waived all overdue and replacement fees, but will dedicate the restocked volume to Sullenberger. Its subject? Professional ethics. More»

'Sully' from age when pilots were trained to be mavericks

(NEWSER) - In an era when pilots are trained to minimize risk and stick to standard procedures, Chesley Sullenberger of Flight 1549 may be one of the last of his kind, New York magazine reports. He was trained in an earlier era, one in which pilots were treated as gods, and a military mentality was embraced. Many had fought in Vietnam, and thus were trained to take risks. More»

(NEWSER) - The small town of Danville, Calif., welcomed home its resident celebrity pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the Los Angeles Times reports. Thousands filled the town green to cheer the man who landed Flight 1549 safely in the Hudson River. "I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the jobs we were trained to do," said Sullenberger in brief remarks. "Thank you." More»